Editor's note: This is the seventh installment of "Our Place in History," an occasional series on local historical groups' treasures and curiosities.

The house at 377 Elm St. has tales to tell.

There's the tale of how it began to take shape in 1688, as the home of Peter Rice and his bride, Rebeccah. There's the tale of how it grew to accommodate their 11 children, and how it served as a fortified refuge in case of Indian attacks.

There's the tale of how it served as apartments for returning GIs after World War II, and how "they were going to rip this down" when Honeywell bought the land in 1968, said Bob Kane, curator of the Marlborough Historical Society's Peter Rice Homestead.

Then there's the tale of a spirit.

About two years ago, a visitor took a picture near the staircase, and "you could see this white cloudy figure" in the photograph, Kane said.

"I'm not much of a believer in ghosts," Kane said, but if there is an old inhabitant who doesn't want to leave, "it could be Peter Rice."

And then there are the tales of the town established 350 years ago, and how it grew from a small cluster of farms to what Licht describes as "the hub for industry and shipping" in the mid- to late-1800s, the tales told in the whistle from the Frye Boot factory that blew at the beginning and end of work shifts, and the oak mantel with a clock and mirror from the ladies' lounge at the B&M Railroad depot at Lincoln and Mechanic Streets.

Unfortunately, there aren't long tales of the most important site in Marlborough, only short stories.

"All we have left from the Williams Tavern is these roof tiles and this chair," plus a mantel and some menus, Kane said as he pointed to items in "The Marlborough Room" on the second floor.

"We have not one picture of what it looked like inside," Kane said. "The Williams Tavern is the biggest mystery we have in the city."

What is known is it was built in 1662 on the site now occupied by D'Angelo's sub shop on Rte. 20, by the Lake Williams bend. George Washington slept there on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army in 1775.

In the 1800s, "Williams Tavern would have been more famous than the Wayside Inn," Kane said.

"The movers and shakers stayed there," Licht said.

But the tavern fell on hard times during the Depression, and after having 10 owners in the 1930s, it was foreclosed on and eventually torn down.

Page 2 of 3 - "They sold the bed George Washington slept in," Kane said. "Vandals went in there and took everything."

"If we could find a (guest) register," Licht said, there would be many amazing tales to add to the historical society's home, which is open for tours by appointment.

Still, there are plenty of stories to see in the wooden pew-seat desks from the 1830s that show what a school's classroom would have looked like, and the circa-1860 doll that sits near the Shirley Temple doll of the 1930s and the vintage baseball mitt.

"How did people live? That's how we arrange our collection," Licht said. The chamber pot by the bed and spinning wheel in the corner of the bedroom tell one story. The collection of shoes produced by local factories tells another.

Signs, photographs and newspaper clippings, including hundreds from the Enterprise detailing where local soldiers were being sent during World War II, tell a thousand more.

"We connect people with their people through the centuries," Licht said. "It isn't just history, it's living history."

If you ask the right questions, you can find out about the Hollywood movie stars once spotted in downtown Marlborough. Bette Davis visited her aunt who lived in the city. Native Morton Stevens, who appeared on several "Studio One" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame" TV dramas before his death in 1959, was the reason Kane can say he saw Ralph Bellamy and Dorothy Lamour.

Like many of the roughly 120 members of the historical society founded in 1964, Kane and Licht have wish lists to make the Peter Rice Homestead a more integral part of the community. They want to put more pieces of the city's past on display.

"If we could open this house up to public functions, that would be a treasure," Licht said, but while the house belongs to the historical society, the land does not, which limits some of the potential to expand on the site.

They'd like to buy a property on Rte. 20 to make a mini-museum that would include the inside of the Renzi Shoe Repair shop, donated by Renzi descendants, and perhaps the pipe organ from the Old West Meeting House used when Horatio Alger Sr. was the pastor.

The organ is in storage, but "it's all in pieces," Kane said. "It's like a puzzle to put it back together."

Space and money are at the top of the wish list for the nonprofit group.

The one thing they don't want is "photographs with no names on them," Kane said.

Page 3 of 3 - "We've got thousands upon thousands of them," but "what good are they" if no one knows whose tale the picture tells?

The Marlborough Historical Society is hosting its 350th Anniversary Historic Homes Tour and Tea today at noon. Check HistoricMarlborough.org for ticket information. The society's phone number is 508-485-4763.